Chef unveils ‘Robert Irvine Public House’ at Tropicana

The chef who became famous for “Dinner: Impossible” and “Restaurant: Impossible” on the Food Network has announced the name of his planned restaurant at the Tropicana: Robert Irvine’s Public House.

“Because it’s about people,” Irvine said Thursday night after his “Robert Irvine: Live” show at the resort on the south Strip.

Irvine said the restaurant, scheduled to open July 22, will serve “eclectic comfort food from my travels around the world,” and he promised a few surprises.

“Servers will do something servers never do,” he said. Declining to elaborate, he said it won’t involve singing or dancing or anything that’s been done before.

“When you see the restaurant, you’ll be wowed,” he promised. “The uniforms — OMG — are so awesome.”

Irvine said five or six dishes will be extremely offbeat, again citing the “wow factor.”

And while he said he’ll continue to live in Los Angeles, he vowed he’ll be a strong presence in the valley.

“I will not be an absentee chef,” Irvine said. “We want to be part of the landscape, the community of Las Vegas.”

Irvine has long been dedicated to veterans and active-duty forces, spending about 150 days a year with the military, working on plans to re-engineer feeding the troops and traveling around the world with his live show to entertain them. At Thursday night’s show, about 100 members of the military and/or their family members sat in front of the stage, and many participated in the action.

Irvine added that he’ll assist Three Square food bank, in part through the Robert Irvine Foundation.

He will continue to do events, and has scheduled one at the Tropicana in June. As for TV, he said he has “a couple of shows in the pipeline,” including one called “Boot Camp.” In response to a question from an audience member, he said, “How to get on it? Do something bad.”

Irvine said he likes the comparatively small size of the Tropicana, because he can be closer to people than he would have been at a Strip megaresort.

“I took a long time to figure the name out,” he said Thursday night. “I don’t want to rip people off for food. We’re going to have good food at a reasonable price and with a good experience.

“I want to make Robert Irvine Public House an entertainment venue for locals and for visitors.”

Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at Hrinella@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0474. Follow @HKRinella on Twitter.